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Try to spend a little time each day in real sunlight, or at least outdoors. even if it's just your break time. There is nothing worse then going to work before dawn, working all day under fluorescent lights, and then going home after nightfall.

I can see problems with unionized and unmotivated workers, so this is probably not the short-term solution. And I am not in the business, so this is just an outsider's opinion. But making someone work 100-110h a week is a modern form of slavery, at minumum it's a form of abuse. We all have works weeks like that occasionally, but if this is the norm and gets worse during certain seasons, it just has to mean you are understaffed and exploited. If the employer is raking in the money over the season, there should be enough money to at least hire temporary people to cope with the work. Rant over.

From a stress management and burnout prevention perspective, there are little things you can to, many of them have been mentioned before.

- eating well, i.e. if in any way possible, try for something regular and don't leave times between meals or snacks too long; include fruits or fruit or vegetable juices; include some whole grain things that last a little longer; try avoiding fat and simple starch overload, they can make you feel tired.
- Even if you run around all day in the kitchen, try to get a few minutes of exercise in there most of the days. The type of movement and exertion is different and addresses different muscels, keeps you flexible and the muscles from tensing up long-term. At minimum, try a few minutes of stretching a few times during the day. Longer exercise releases endorphines that make us feel good.
- smoking and drugs seem to be helpful to get you during tough times, but the costs are too high from any reasonable perspective, even short-term. Higher highs lead to stronger crashes, the strain on the body is enormous. Nicotine is a stimulans and can help to stay alert (smoking to relax is nonsense - it's the break you take for smoking that works...), but from a health perspective it's among the stupidest things you can do. The only 'acceptable' drug from the perspective of a health professional is caffeine, but even that should stay within reasonable limits. A drink before bed is no problem, everything else will do more harm than good to keep you going.
- try to get quality sleep; sleep quality affects how rested you feel at least as much as the time you sleep, and if you do not get much sleep, that is even more important. Alcohol may help falling asleep but it leads to very bad sleep quality. Having fresh air supply (open window) helps; ear plugs and/or a sleeping mask like you get on a plane can help also.
- this may sound strange, but try to keep a positive perspective and consciously do one nice thing for yourself every day. Life feels like it is just passing by when all you do is work your butt off and sleep. A positive view doesn't mean you should see everything through rosy glasses. But what you can do is look back on the day, and among all the crap find one thing that was really good, positive, great, memorable etc. There always is something, we just don't learn or forget to look for it very often. The joke the line cook told, the feeling when the last plate went out, the one smile you got from that cute server, that your dish washer actually listened to you today, the nice view on the drive home etc.
- You could also go one step further and do one nice thing for yourself every day. Does not have to be anything fancy, but it helps not 'losing' yourself in a crappy phase where work seems to be everything. Can be anything: Look at the sunrise, listen to your favorite sone, watch your favorite Monty Python sketch on Youtube, do some stretching exercises, call your favorite niece, play 5 min with your dog, run through the park, take the scenic way home and enjoy it, daydream 5 minutes about your dream vacation without guilt, tell your wife you love her, thank your Mom for being there for you, say a friendly word to a stranger.

You see - I'm a psychologist But these little things can help keeping us sane, especially in stressfull times.

I just try to dress really warm, just to make sure I don't get sick, I typically hit between 80-95 hrs a week in December. I drink anywhere between 4-7 black tea a day, get to Booster Juice on fri/sat's a bit after 4pm, or Jamba Juice in the states I believe it's called. I won't say how much I smoke, but I call BS Chuckles hehe, been doin this since I was 14-15. Also, after work, I read cookbooks, I find if I read about food before I go to sleep, the next day I will be more excited to cook, but if I watch sports centre, or soccer news/fanzone, I will fall asleep tired, and likewise the next day I just don't want to do it. Obviously each day is different, but I find when lunch really drags in December your screwed. Stefan has some good advice there, I always try to stretch. People at work laugh at me when I say I'm on my jamaican vacation when I'm sweating like crazy, but I just think of it that way, I almost enjoy the heat when I think of the sun and the beach. Whatever games you play to get yourself to do it I say. Good luck everyone, we will get through it like always, and just think of how great that first week of February before Valentine's day will be. I know my season is so busy this year I have Christmas parties atleast into the 20s of January.

"This may sound strange, but try to keep a positive perspective and consciously do one nice thing for yourself every day."
So a professional says it is good for your health to buy a new knife daily.Can i get a prescription please.